From Deathbed to CEO

This morning I’m sitting in a small room in Kenya, Africa. The room has concrete walls and a concrete floor. The wooden chairs are covered with thin pads and green sheets. There are six African women inside along with our AGCC team of Kent, Lawrence, and myself.

When we arrived a few minutes ago the ladies were waiting at the door. They immediately broke into song. In fact they sang two lengthy songs as they shook our hands and invited us into their Center. The sign above the door read ‘Living Positive Kenya’. It is a WEEP Center. WEEP stands for ‘Women Education Empowerment Program’. The six ladies I just hugged are all HIV positive and have been so for a while.

Here is one of their stories: a woman named Ann.

Ann, like all the other WEEP ladies lived in the slums of Nairobi. She has several children and a husband. Living in the slums means money is very scarce and basic needs are a struggle each and every day. Getting food, water, school supplies, and basic material needs consumes Ann’s entire day, every day. Life is hard in the slums.

Then one day Ann got sick, then very sick. She went to the clinic and received medicine but it did not help. Months go by and Ann grows weaker and weaker, but still gets her kids to school and provides for them as best she can. Ann wonders if she has AIDS. She knows if she goes to get tested and the neighbors find out they will ostracize her and wonder what she has been doing to contract the virus. Ann knows she has done nothing immoral to be infected, but her family members and neighbors won’t believe her. Ann continues to grow weaker, to the point that getting out of bed is a chore.

Ann has AIDS. She is HIV positive. This explains her weakness. She must tell her husband. When she does, he packs up his few belongings and announces that he cannot live with a woman with AIDS. He leaves the home to go find a new wife, while leaving the children in the slum home with Ann. The husband is the one who gave Ann AIDS, but is now going to spread it in a new relationship.

Ann and the children are in trouble. With no income to pay the rent and Ann barely having strength to even get out of bed, the family is falling apart. The children cannot get to school and roam the streets trying to find food for themselves and for mama. Ann is dying. Soon her children will be orphaned.

Mary, a local nurse, heard about Ann and her plight. Mary had been traveling into the slums on her day off to help vulnerable women. After a few trips, and seeing the situation, Mary resigned from her job and decided the slums were her calling from God. When Mary arrived at Ann’s home she found Ann bedridden and very sick. Mary literally carried Ann on her back to go see the doctor. Mary cared for Ann by bringing food and helping with the children. Mary did this with several other women too until caring for the HIV women of the slums became an everyday event. These women needed food to be prepared, cleaning, child care, and medicine to be picked up.

One day Mary met Vicki from a ministry named HEART. HEART also felt God’s call to assist the vulnerable women of the slums. Vicki and Mary began a support group for these slum women. Ann was welcomed in the group. Thanks to Mary and Vicki, Ann began to grow  stronger. Ann was invited to join the WEEP program where for 18 months she would come every day to the Center and learn about health, HIV, and child wellness. Ann thrived in the group.

In just eighteen months Ann became as strong as she was before contracting her illness and she had learned a trade to generate income to pay her rent and provide food and schooling for her children. Ann soon learned about becoming a business woman and the possibility of not being dependent on anyone but the Lord for her daily needs. Her skill actually allowed her to save a few dollars each month. Her life was back in full swing.

When Ann had saved enough money she purchased a small slum shack. It was only ten feet by ten feet, and it was right next to the dump, but it was hers. No landlord could take it away from her. She felt more secure. In a few short months she was able to buy the house next to her and have more room for the children. Little did she realize what an entrepreneurial woman she had become. The training at the WEEP Center was pushing her beyond her own dreams.